Blah Blah Blah...

...because that's how I feel today. K got sick on Saturday, I got it yesterday. The good news is that I kept Kacie home today, and she seems to be on the mend. I think I am one day behind her because I'm feeling a little better today, so hopefully I'll be good to go tomorrow. The bad news is that Ty has been extra clingy and whiny today...no no no! I'm sure the boys aren't far behind in their illnesses.

I know several people are reading this while waiting for their own kids. The biggest thing I can say is to be prepared for regression in behavior. On Friday morning we noticed that Ty was being a bit agressive again. He has been hitting all weekend. We had this totally stopped, or so I thought. Yesterday I had to get super-strict about it, as I will not tolerate him hitting K. He's certainly testing because now he's using a softer style of hitting, just like he did with pinching. He's testing to see how hard he can hit/pinch and get away with it. Not only is this probably an adoption thing, it's also a toddler thing! But I am just surprised with how my emotions tense up when he regresses back to an old behavior, whether it's food, hitting, or tantrums. The tantrums have almost disappeared. Very rarely does he throw himself on the floor and scream. When he does, I let him do it for a minute, and if he doesn't get up, he goes to his time out spot--the playpen. He can still yell and scream all he wants, he's just not going to do it in the middle of where people need to walk or where I'm cooking dinner.

Sleeping is soooooo much better, although Friday and Saturday nights he fell out of bed. He is in a low toddler bed with a rail for the upper part. He must be wiggling a lot. The other reason he will wake up is that he will kick all the blankets off and then be cold. I am wondering if someone walked around at the orphanage and covered the kids up in the middle of the night. He does not like to go to sleep with blankets on, and forget about covering his feet. So I wait til he's asleep, then I cover him up and tuck in the blankets the best I can. But in both scenarios, when he does wake up, I'm only up for 5-10 minutes, and he falls back asleep. We have been very blessed in this part of our adoption.

Preschool is also going well. I left the room last Thursday, and he did great! I watched through the window during gym time and art time. I am actually going to leave the building tomorrow. I think he's ready for it. He enjoys his teachers and has so much fun. There is so much to do! I actually think that when I'm there, I'm holding him back and hovering too much.

Maybe some of you are thinking, "He's 2...preschool?" Tyson qualifies for the birth to three program, which is under the umbrella of special education. He was evaluated in 5 areas. The cleft palate is his major disability, which will qualify him for speech. However, we won't do that evaluation until after palate surgery. He did qualify under gross motor and adaptive skills, but he's quickly gaining in the adaptive area. Gross motor will take more time I'm sure, but already he's making progress. I think I blogged more about it in September if you want to know more. If you live in WA state, these services are provided by your district, so be sure to look into it!

Here are some random pictures I found that I hadn't posted.



On one of our last nice days, Tyson was out helping daddy mow the lawn.



A picture from the pumpkin patch that was on Kacie's camera. They sure enjoyed the hay maze!



This one is blurred, but it's Kacie and Ty on Ty's first day of preschool.